Lan didn't understand.
"His ambitions lie in the sea of stars, not the Xianzhou."
Hua raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. He wants to become a 'Galaxy Ranger.'"
Xianzhou people grew up listening to stories of the "Reignbow Arbiter."
Aside from Father, who was an exception, everyone followed the Aeons and offered their most sincere devotion to the gods.
They hated everything related to the "Plagues Author" and constantly watched for traitors around them.
If they uncovered a traitor within the Xianzhou, they would receive rewards from the Xianzhou.
Among everyone, Jing Yuan stood out.
He had not even reported his father for the bounty of five hundred thousand patrol arrows.
Jing Yuan was very smart, but he was too young.
He was under twenty years old. Because he had long followed the Cloud Knights on campaigns, he frequently missed classes and failed courses. Even now, he had yet to graduate from the academy.
The young man admired the Aeons and wanted to follow in their footsteps, travel the stars, punish evil, and uphold justice.
He was too young. When he saw the suffering and injustice experienced by other races, he empathized and felt sad.
But could he solve it alone?
Even if Jing Yuan possessed an outstanding mind and had the ability to shake the rules and change systems that other races had used for hundreds or thousands of years, it could never be accomplished overnight.
Then what about the victims waiting for the "Galaxy Rangers" to save them?
Once Jing Yuan grew up, he would understand that his own strength was limited.
Compared to the members of the Interastral Council, the efforts of races, planets, and even entire industries were insignificant.
A single sentence from them could determine life or death.
Only by taking Hua's position and sitting together with the rulers of various civilizations could the universe move according to his will and make solving those problems possible.
Just now, Hua had specifically reminded Jing Yuan, "Your temperament is not settled yet. It would be best for you to remain on the Xianzhou."
Jing Yuan had clearly not taken it to heart. Soon after, he met the "Reignbow Arbiter," and after just a few words, he became full of excitement.
Perhaps by the end of the wedding banquet, Tengxiao would receive a report submitted by Jing Yuan?
After ten or a hundred years, Jing Yuan would come to Hua on his own.
Thinking of this, Hua curved her lips, and her tone became lighter.
"That's good."
"He's somewhat like Father."
Lan was silent for a while before saying, "...Think it over again."
Hua was speechless.
"Not that kind of similar."
"As long as Father can do something, he'll definitely do it."
Dan Feng was the same.
But the two were very different in essence.
Father had unwavering will, while the High Elder was proud and lofty.
And the person Jing Yuan admired and treated as his role model was Dan Feng.
Hua narrowed her eyes with a smile.
"I think Jing Yuan is that kind of person too."
The Aeon said, "You have high hopes for him."
Hua chuckled.
"Yes."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Looking forward to his alliance.
Meanwhile, Zero and Jingliu arrived at the main table.
Only some of the geniuses had accepted the invitation. The rest had declined Zandar for various reasons.
To fill the seats, Matthias brought his students and was allowed to sit at the main table as an exception.
Before the wedding, Zandar had repeatedly mentioned that members of the "Genius Society" had prepared a wedding gift for Zero.
He said Zero would definitely like it, but whenever he asked, Zandar mysteriously refused to reveal anything.
"When the day you get married comes, you'll know."
Was it some kind of technology? Or had a member agreed to join the Xianzhou?
Zero had been looking forward to the gift.
Holding hands with Jingliu, he smiled and nodded to the geniuses at the main table before starting to offer toasts.
Then, under his gaze, Zandar pulled out a sheet of paper.
The paper was densely covered with over a dozen lines of text.
Zero took it and looked closely.
'They seemed to be... paper titles?'
Zandar smiled warmly and thoughtfully introduced the gift.
"The wedding gift we prepared for you is papers."
"You are listed as the first author."
Zero, "..."
The wedding gift wasn't geniuses, but technological achievements that had already been put into use thousands of years ago.
Geniuses rarely made their research public. The papers had actually been completed long before they were released.
Perhaps hundreds or thousands of years earlier.
By now, those technologies had already gone through many improvements.
Indeed, Zandar had always been prejudiced against the Xianzhou.
How could he willingly share his research results with them?
Zero slowly lowered the papers.
Zandar raised his eyebrows, his tone carrying hidden meaning.
"You think these are just a dozen papers?"
"This is faith."
"You've achieved outstanding results in multiple fields, yet you have not received the gaze of any Aeon."
"What do you think they will think?"
"From now on, they will only believe in one Aeon."
Zandar spoke with great enthusiasm, as though he were considering the Xianzhou's future.
Zero forced out a smile, "This really is... a huge gift."
Zandar chuckled, "Next is the gift I've prepared for you."
The scholar shrugged and took out one of the property deeds that the Vidyadhara had recently delivered to him.
To Zandar, money was just numbers.
A single experiment could burn through astonishing amounts of credits.
He wasn't short of money, but he didn't want to spend money on the Xianzhou.
Forget his student being the final beneficiary.
As long as any Xianzhou native profited from it, Zandar wouldn't spend a single credit.
"I'm just an ordinary person. All I can give you is a villa."
Baiheng, carrying her bag behind the group, was deeply shocked.
'Giving away a villa so casually, and he called himself ordinary?!'
The Foxian looked around, trying to find someone who shared her views.
After scanning the area, she realized that whether it was the guests at the main table or the groomsmen accompanying the newlyweds, no one showed any reaction.
It was as though they were discussing dishes on the table instead of a villa.
Baiheng looked at Jingliu. Her friend lowered her eyes and seemed to have blended right in.
Thinking about it, Jingliu's betrothal gifts had been worth far more than a villa.
She was probably already used to it.
Zandar continued, "When you have time, remember to visit it. There's a surprise inside."
Zero fell silent.
Zandar had even given him papers as a gift...
That meant the surprise he mentioned had to be something special.
After thinking for a moment, Zero asked, "Is there a laboratory inside?"
Zandar shook his head.
"No, it's a library."
Zero almost failed to maintain his smile.
Seeing this, the scholar added, "Don't worry. The library isn't big. It only has tens of thousands of books."
Zero, "..."
'When you say tens of thousands of books, do you mean ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine?'
Thanks, but he would never go there in his life.
Zero maintained his smile and accepted the deed, handing it over to Guanliang for safekeeping.
Zandar stood up and said with a smile, "For certain reasons, your identity cannot be made public."
"But I still have to say this..."
"On behalf of the Genius Society, I welcome the return of the Eighth Seat..."
He spread his arms and embraced Zero.
"Welcome back, Eric."
Zandar withdrew his hand and began introducing the others to his students.
The last one was the woman sitting on his right.
"Polka Kakamond."
Polka wore a rose-red evening dress and black silk gloves. Beside her sat a handbag matching the color of her dress.
Remaining seated, she picked up the gift bag behind her and handed it to Zero.
"Happy wedding."
Zero accepted it with a smile, "Thank you."
Just as he was about to pass it to Guanliang, Polka said, "Aren't you going to open it?"
Zero paused and followed her suggestion, taking out the box and opening the gift.
At the center of the box was a laurel wreath.
Zero had received similar crowns before.
For example, ordinary wreaths woven from laurel leaves.
And others decorated with gold, gemstones, and other precious materials.
This time, it was made of jade.
The leaves were crystal clear and of exceptional quality, enough to be displayed in a museum.
The craftsman had carved each leaf shape and its veins, even intentionally leaving behind a few drops of dew.
Zero put away the gift, and his thanks became noticeably more sincere.
"Thank you. I really like this gift."
Seeing that Zero had finished toasting the main table, Guanliang signaled to Baiheng to bring out the red envelopes.
The Foxian took out two red envelopes and handed them to Jingliu.
Matthias rubbed the corners of his clothes with both hands.
"...Can I call you Mother?"
Looking at the overly youthful face before her, Jingliu unconsciously softened her tone.
"Of course."
Matthias accepted the red envelope and said quietly, "Thank you, Mother."
Jingliu handed the other red envelope to Matthias's student.
The student looked timid. After taking the envelope, she instinctively repeated, "Thank you, Mother."
Jingliu froze for a moment before smiling back.
Matthias hurriedly explained, "Daddy, she's my student."
"She's always wanted to see you again."
Zero looked over.
Staring at the anxious yet expectant face, he remembered after a moment.
Matthias had once complained that his student lived in poverty and still refused to eat after arriving at the Xianzhou.
By chance, the two had met at the institute.
Zero had tried to persuade Matthias's student, but she wasn't good at socializing and had a personality almost identical to Matthias.
Back then, after saying a few words, he had ended the conversation with a joke.
"You won't eat that many patrol arrows."
"If you want to bankrupt the Xianzhou, you'll have to keep working hard."
Taking her personality into account, Zero hadn't tried to get close too quickly.
He rested a hand on the back of Matthias's chair and softly said, "So it's you."
"Long time no see."
"How's the food? It should be better than the institute cafeteria, right?"
The student nodded repeatedly.
Tilting his head, Zero teased, "Then eat more."
"And try..."
"Try to bankrupt me."
The student blankly watched the group leave.
She suddenly lowered her head, covering her mouth tightly with one hand while grabbing Matthias's arm with the other.
Matthias sighed.
"Ah, Father still likes teasing kids..."
Nowadays, the Xianzhou belonged to the Crown Princess.
'If Father let someone bankrupt the Xianzhou...'
'That wouldn't be appropriate.'
Matthias tried to free himself, but the other party silently screamed, tightening her grip more and more.
He felt somewhat uncomfortable.
If they weren't puppets, his arm would probably be bruised.
Oh, and his student's face would probably be bright red too.
The student muttered, "He still remembers me..."
With difficulty, Matthias pulled back his arm and used serving chopsticks to place food on her plate.
"Yes, he remembers you."
He patted her head like he was comforting a child.
"Come on, eat."
"Let's bankrupt him together."
The student pouted and silently screamed again.
Matthias felt exhausted.
He proactively extended his arm toward her.
"We're puppets now. Be careful and don't pull my arm off."
A few meters away from the main table sat the upper ranks of the Luofu.
Tengxiao felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
He was the only one at the table who knew the former Marshal's identity.
Even if they were nominally superiors to the Divination Commission's diviners...
Could he really make that person go around toasting everyone?
Tengxiao picked up his glass and stood up first, saying cheerfully, "We don't need all those formalities. Starting with this table, one toast per table is enough."
Since the General had spoken, the others naturally had no objections.
Everyone else stood up and offered their blessings one after another.
"Happy wedding to you both."
"You two are truly a perfect match!"
Watching the former Marshal tilt his head back and drain the cup, Tengxiao finally relaxed.
After this drink, they would move on to the next table.
But just as Tengxiao relaxed, Xiaolin, whom he had repeatedly warned and hinted to, caused trouble.
Without warning, Xiaolin raised a hand and patted the former Marshal on the shoulder.
"Now that you're married, don't forget about work."
Guanliang instinctively looked at Baiheng's bag.
Oh right, he almost forgot.
He had already turned off Zero's jade abacus.
No problem.
By the time Zero found out, he would already be back in Yaoqing.
Zero froze for a moment, then smiled.
"How could I?"
After hearing this answer, Xiaolin completely confirmed his suspicion.
The Xianzhou imposed certain restrictions on senior officials and their spouses.
For example, they couldn't freely leave the Xianzhou.
Or reveal their identities on the galactic network.
But the Xianzhou did not restrict their spouses' positions.
There was no rule saying that if one person held a high position, the other had to leave the Six Commissions.
After hearing Zero's answer, Xiaolin realized that he had been kept in the dark the entire time.
Zero didn't know he had already been dismissed.
Xiaolin couldn't help sighing inwardly.
The gods really were fighting among themselves.
Could the current Marshal really not tolerate the descendant of the former Marshal?
Zero was just an ordinary diviner.
He got off work when the time came and had no ambition whatsoever.
Whenever the Divination Commission needed manpower, Zero had never signed up and had never volunteered for overtime.
Setting him up with Jingliu was one thing, but why fire him too?
Even if the two truly loved each other, and even if Zero had Jingliu's support...
Jingliu's age was there for all to see.
How much longer could she help him?
Then again, that was the former Marshal.
Xiaolin sighed with emotion and said no more.
After this farewell, the two of them would probably never meet again.
He patted Zero's shoulder.
Instead of blessing the newlyweds, he only said to his subordinate, "Happy wedding."
Tengxiao's expression stiffened, immediately sensing something was wrong.
Why bless only the former Marshal and not Jingliu?
Wait, hadn't he already dropped enough hints?
What exactly was Xiaolin thinking?
Tengxiao's expression became extremely complicated.
As soon as the four left, he grabbed Xiaolin.
Just as he was about to question him, Xiaolin spoke first with a knowing look.
"Don't say anything. I understand."
Tengxiao, "..."
'What exactly do you understand?'
Xiaolin pointed at the ceiling.
"It's nothing more than that. How could I not understand?"
Tengxiao, "..."
'You'd better actually understand.'